I wonder what the circumstances were with regard to him voting for Trump and being threatened at the County level? Was he elected at the County level? That is the first question needing answered.

This is very similar to what I reported many years back in Missoula County, Montana. However, some of that was brought on by people who tried to ignore the rules in place then complained they were not listened to. But the rest was those in control using rules to silence those they did not want to have seats at the State or National convention.

Let’s not waste time on this. The parties are clubs and they make their own rules to get their desired outcome. This is why I see a serious danger in the monopoly on the whole political system in the country. Yes, they two clubs have passed some State laws, which they can also change at any time, to keep that illusion of choice alive. That is quickly changing. When a good majority of people figure out the game, they will see it as I do, not free and unfair. I’m not really sure what the people will do when this finally bitch slaps them in the head. It also shows how well the MSM and politicians played people. Now, people are screaming that their vote don’t count. It never really did. We are in an awakening period. This might be fun. I hope you have prepared well my friend, your family will be depending on you should things go South. Remember, Executive Orders are signed and ready to take over the entire food distribution system, as well as the food and everything else. They don’t sign these just for fun, they do it knowing they will use them one day.

When asked why the pages and information was deleted when the CIA, DOD and others wanted it included, the Senators said it was stopped by the FBI. The FBI claimed the information was “CLASSIFIED” and would not allow its release.

Due to the classification process the Committee had no choice but to delete the information. Just as the Senators still cannot share details because they would violate the law regarding disclosure of classified materials.

I point this out because if you notice, Mrs. Clinton has used this classification dispute between agencies in her defense against the e-mail investigation and accusations.

The information is still out there, just can’t be released to the public. No matter really, many of us already know it was an inside job to take us to war. There is just too much evidence to fall for the official story. The truth will one day come out.

“Bruce Springsteen has a right to his deeply held beliefs. He has a right to control his business and refuse to do business with those he disagrees with,” the petition reads.

“He exercised that right when he refused to serve ticket holders in Greensboro NC, for a concert he agreed to perform on April 10th,” it continues. “He cancelled the concert just days before he was to perform, and did so specifically because he disagreed with the beliefs of the people of North Carolina.”

And here is the prickly point. If you deny service to thousands and thousands of people, costing them hundreds in lost reservations and rentals, then you have no place attacking florists or bakers for refusing a few customers at no cost to them.

That is really strange behavior for a businessman. The last time I attended a Bruce Springsteen concert was about 12 years ago the tickets were $100 a piece and that was for not so good of seats. The Greensboro Coliseum holds 23,000. That’s roughly 2.3M he just pissed away. Must be nice. Did he even think of the low level people that work at the coliseum who are event dependent. No work, no pay. Granted he thinks he disagrees with the NC people, but places like Greensboro, Charlotte and Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill are anything but concervative and are hotbeds of liberal thinking with the major universities in those locations……Now his music has a slant of liberal politics and also protest against the rich, but he doesn’t consider himself of that class of 1%’r……What if you only performed your music to only those that agreed with you politically, what if you had to sign and affidavit as to your politics when you buy or listen to his CD’s…….he missing the point of protest and he’s not getting his message to those who he want to change…crazy thinking. Obviously he hates that NC is a right to work state.

Springsteen, jersey boy, sings of the lost wonders of places like Asbury Park. I who am not a fan, not at all, remember saying at the time he hit it big, “Let’s see if he puts his money where his mouth is?” He didn’t. A small part of the Springsteen fortune could have turned Asbury Park into Disneyland.

My problem with great songs is, I try and listen to lyric. “Born in the USA” may be one driving tune much as “this Land is Your Land” is but when you move down to the lower stanza’s you realize they are straight propaganda. Commie-Pinko at that. Gotta honestly say most people do not seem to be subliminally influenced though.

I was just walking back home from having a couple beers at a local restaurant. On the corner are a couple newspaper boxes. Headline was the start of Federal hearing about the allegedly ILLEGAL gerrymandering along racial lines that is occuring in Greensboro. I take one look at the corridors that tie my old congressional district together that look loke an octopus. Clearly designed to keep elected a self identified black democrat congressman in office.

I have a solution to this whole thing. Purely based on population and race as the 1st cut. Under that a breakdown of gender, culture etc are the only criteria. Blacks can only vote for blacks, asians, whites etc and they get so many representatives based on population the subset is of that overall group and has to fit the demographic. 52% women etc.

It would take all the Democrat or republican argument away…..purely math…oh and have to be citizens provibly…..A command I was at in ’77, actually did that on creating action plans based on “opinion” surveys that were given. Two were created. One was by the traditional group…the leaders which I was one, and then the other was created by this slicing and dicing of the demograhics of the overall command. Believe it or not the one that was based on the demographics was the best analysis and the admiral rejected the “management/leader” only one and to him it was a “blind taste test” I actually was on both teams. I was a department head NCO on on, but the other I was White, male, single, NCO and a few other criteria. There might be a white female, divorced, with children. Black, and so on and so forth. Married, no kids, married, kids. Lived on base, lived of base, all these elements created a very lively discussion and be prepared to argue your position….those positions made up the data points on the survey……alll officers were white, usually married and college or academy educated…absolutely didn’t have a clue nor took the time to understand nor could comprehend the “people” under them and what is pushing their buttons. So how can they put together a plan that fixes the issues at the command.

To be honest there are only issues I could fix in my direct control. The Captain at his, The admiral at his, the 7th fleet command at theirs, the pentagon, and ultimately Congress and POTUS, And those issues were forwarded to that level. and an answer and resolution was required…….in 40 years of working for business and the military. The ONLY one that went anywhere was the one I just discribed. All the others were management only,and were used to as a tool to seek out and “ELIMINATE” anybody who could possibly disagree with command dictates. IBM was the most notorious with that use. AT&T didn’t even bother after the 2nd year I worked there. Open door was a joke in IBM. Maybe in the 50’s and 60’s it was valid, but by the time the 70’s and definitely the 80’s and in full swing by the 90’s people were nothing more than a brass tag.

City and towns are easy. Based on the boundry. Then county, State and so on….just an FYI. NC has about 10M based on the latest census report. 6% plus are hispanic. Census Bureau research has shown that approximately 65% of that population are ILLEGAL’s. Not citizen’s, not green card, nothing. Asians are growing but still a small segment of the population. A recordable segment are actually the Montegnards from Vietnam and Hmong from Laos. So in Statewide elections whites have to have 70% of the elected officials. Blacks 21.5%, So many native americans, asians etc to round out the representaives.

The population from India, even though small in number are the best educated of the lot. Might have been educated here, but along with the chinese meaningfull education is job #1……not worrying about safe spaces, gender neutral bathrooms.

If we don’t have the right to decide what happens to our hard-earned cash, then we don’t have very many rights at all. If they can just take from you what they want, when they want, and then use it however they want, you can’t claim to be anything more than a serf in a land they think of as theirs.

Some food for thought this fine morning…..We the people would have learned quickly the dangers of allowing 2 companies become the only service that helps keep this country going. Would you allow the following examples:

Only two companies run ALL over the road transportation
Only two companies provide all of the meat for the nation
Only two companies provide all other foods for the nation
Only two companies provide all insurance needs
Only two companies build all the houses and buildings
These companies would be called monopolies, which fall against the rule of free trade and freedom in general.

So I ask this very important question. If we can see the danger in the above mentioned monopolies, why would we allow the same for our supposed free and fair elections? This tiff with the two parties is a golden opportunity to show why this monopoly on elections should be eliminated. I am long ago tired of being their slave. I chose long ago to stop voting in their game. If anyone thinks they are doing ANYTHING that is our best interest, you are lying to yourself. This needs to end, and it won’t likely be a pretty ending.

Ok…I agree. How do you propose to end it? Not going to the ballot box will not end it, so what do you propose? The ones in control do not really want you at the ballot box anyway…thus they remain in power….so, what do you propose?

Ok….let us talk non violent. Great….I agree because armed resurrection is not the way to go no matter how noble or how romantic the revolutionary war seemed.

So, without the ballot box and changing the players. I see no non violent other way. There will be no boycotts…for whom would you boycott? Wall street where 90 percent have their retirement investments? They will not rock the boat. Boycott banks and financial institutions where everybody has their morgages? They will not rock the boat. DO not buy products from the large overseas manufacturing conglomerates? People iive for cheap prices. They will not rock the boat. People quit their jobs to fight the politicians? They will not do this.

Adopt the attutude that your vote does not count and do a no vote on principle? A noble and romantic concept but it will change nothing. As you are noticing, the parties that are in power now will simply stay in power….vote or no vote. You will still have to pay taxes or they will come and get your assets. You can fight them for awhile with your guns but die in the end. Again, a noble and romantic concept but the end result is the same. THey are still in power and you are dead. My old pappry used to say ” Principle is what makes lawyers rich. You can fight to the last dollar you have and you will be poor and the lawyers willl be rich but I guess you can stand in the bread line and feel good about yourself.” OR………..

You can do what we have been 12 years doing…..electing down ticket people that think the same way that you do. We are now beginnning to reap the benefits. We have a constitutional balanced budget. We have elected to fight the Federal government and do what is good for Texas and the rest of the country be damned. We are telling the SCOTUS to go to hell and we are doing what is right for Texas. We have voter ID, we have no state income tax, we beat back the imminent domain, we bet back the lawyers and lump sum awards, we told the Federal Education department to go to hell and we gave the local school boards jurisdiction over their own districts. We beat back and eliminated the Robin Hood Taxes, We told Michelle Obama to go to hell and we serve what we want in the school lunch programs. We beat back and will have in our State Constitution a permanet right to work. We beat back compulsory dues in unionized companies, we instituted work for food programs and have eliminated state welfare and housing programs ( Federal is still available if you can find anyone that will sell land to the Feds ). We budget for the poor and the infirm and when that budget runs out we do not deficit spend…we let the charities take over. We beat back Obamacare and do not fund it with state funds and the kiosks are disappearing. Obamacare is going broke and no one is going without medical care. We are patrolling our own borders and it is finally beginning to have tremendous effects by sending the illegals to California, who has tried to sue Texas because California cannot handle the infux. We are going after the companies that hire the illegals as well and revoking their state charters and franchises to do business in Texas. I wil stop here as there are a host of other “little” things we have done at the State and local levels.

But the bottom line is….we did it at the ballot box. We did with grass root support. We did it by educating people as to what the problem was/is……..You must….MUST MUST MUST start at the lowest precint levels. You elect delegates that think like the majority. You elect precint JP’s and judges that are conservative or carry the values that you want. Texas is not California or New York and a California or New York value is much different than a Texas value or a Pennsylvania value. There is NO litmus that fits everybody…..so my answer is………………..start locally and then have the people in place that believe in those values and will do right by the State and do not give a rat’s ass what Washington or the SCOTUS thinks. As Greg Abbott and Rick PErry both have said……we will do what is right for Texas.

And, one thing that you must fight with every ounce in your body. If you believe that we are a “Nation of Laws”……………then you must enforce the law. Period. End of Sentence. Good Bye.

I remember, one time, when the SUFA barrister and I had some differeing opinons, When Texas defied the SOCTUS, he said to me….”Well, so much for the rule of law”. To which I responded, ” When you have laws on the books and then decide which ones you wish to enforce, creates the very environment of defying the law. If the Federal Government can decide which laws to enforce, so can a State.” To which he answered, ” No, I do not see it that way.” So, as I see it, any lawyer that is supposed to uphold and enforce ALL laws, as a ward of the court, suddenly decides to only enforce those he/she wants to enforce, then the rule of Law has just been thrown out the window. That would be tantamount to Billy Graham standing at the altar saying…..it is ok to believe in God when it suits your purpose but it is ok to not walk the walk if it goes against something you want.

You have touched on a point which I believe is at the core of our cultural demise. When the “opinion leaders”, those whom the population looks to for direction, become obviously corrupt, the population will do what it always does. It will follow the leaders.

It is no wonder our children have grown to be cynical when those they look up to are constantly found to be criminals at worst or simply immoral SOBS at best. When parents and teachers show that they do not care, the children will not care either.

Sorry I revealed your trick. It just struck my funny bone first thing so I had to respond. Couldn’t help myself! I was imagining men resurrected with no arms vs. arms; with guns vs no guns, then of guns themselves being resurrected, or worse just man arms.

On the more serious note, you may recall that I wrote some actual articles years ago for SUFA that were titled the “Resurrection” of America. I also used that word for a reason. Seems that we are once again on the same track.

As for your longer comment, allow me to pose a simplified version: The game goes to those who play.

With regard to your actions in Texas, you know I love what ya’ll have done. However, in the end your replace one monopoly with another. The key to long term success is long term engagement. Something that is hard to maintain once success starts happening.

Example, we now have more taxes here in Idaho than we had under the last Democratic regime. And that was two decades ago. Those R’s now fighting against this trend are branded outlaws and “extremists”. They are extreme because they do not think we should take Federal money. Which in States smaller than Texas, economically speaking, means less services.

There are two ways to starve the Federal Govt., peacefully. One is for everyone to stop paying taxes for about a year. This of course will land many people in jail and scare the rest into compliance. The leaders will go to prison.

The second is for the States to decide what is appropriate for the Feds to do and then stop cooperating and stop taking Fed. money for anything else. Stop cowering to the blackmail attached to Federal funding. As the demand for Federal money declines the Fed govt will eventually have to shrink.

The weakness in this method is those States that will double down on Federal money, thus reducing the effect on the Fed. Govt.

There is a third way to rein in the Fed but it ends in chaos and violence of a different sort. That is to accelerate the collapse while protecting your family and friends. The “preper” alternative, if you will.

Hope you are having a great day in the land of Texicans. Been warm and sunny here, but now cloudy and raining. Hard on the back trying to get so much outside work done in short bursts of frenzied activity.

JAC posted…” You have touched on a point which I believe is at the core of our cultural demise. When the “opinion leaders”, those whom the population looks to for direction, become obviously corrupt, the population will do what it always does. It will follow the leaders.”

A lesson I learned many years ago when I was about to punish my son for an infraction of a rule that I had set. Just before the punishment was about to be administered, I wanted him to understand the why so I asked him if he knew the reason….He said, yes sir……but dad, you did it.”

That was all that needed to be said. He was right…I was about to adopt the attitude that it is ok for an adult to do it but not a child and all he did was follow my example. Lesson learned.

I can’t really disagree with anything you said. JAC made some good points about Texas just replacing one monopoly with another, which seems likely. It’s working for Texas now, but I do recall when Texas was going to kick the TSA out and was slammed by the Fed’s. With that said, when the Fed’s get fed up with Texas, they will make Texas fall in line where they want you too. Let the IRS with hold tax returns and watch how quickly things change. I’m not dissing Texas by any means, I’m seeing the Fed’s for what they are.

I would say that my ideas were inline with how Texas has done things recently. After some thinking, I see it as a short term fix, or even an illusion of success, created by non action by the Fed’s. I don’t see that as a viable long term solution, at least not at this time.

I also do not agree with an armed resurrection, LOL, or any other for of an armed “offensive” style attack. We all know that without the moral high ground, success is nearly impossible. There will be a time for violence, that I have no doubt. As JAC said, we prep for when the Central government fails, then move in and take over. I can assure everyone that there is some significant thinking going in to this subject. Those on the Left are as well, but are never going to be prepared for this, it’s not in their ideology.

I suggest that we do as much as possible at the lowest levels, as the good Colonel has suggested. Then just prepare you and your family for some really tough times. If the time comes, in our lifetime, we can say we at least were ready, even if we’re too damn old to do any good as far as a new government goes, if that occurs.

I will say, that it is unacceptable for these two political parties to have monopolized our elections. They are turning our States into police states. Their actions, like spying, like holding political prisoners, like not being held accountable for law violations etc, are not in our best interest. The sooner more and more people get this into their heads, the sooner the problem will get fixed.

Something to consider. If there would be a major National emergency and the country is broken into the ten FEMA regions, it isn’t temporary, it’s permanent. That’s how the North American Union will become a reality. The NAU has become a subject again because of Cruz’s wife and her work on the subject. (Yes, got to have some conspiracy theory stuff to brighten our day 🙂 ).

Good comments…all. I will take the replacing one monopoly for another with a grain of salt. I would have thought so but on the education front, Texas has released its supervision and remanded all control and decisions and taxing authority to the local districts. The most interesting part is the taxing authority. It is run by the cities and counties on the education front. Some school districts are higher than others and some are lower than others. Some districts have really established sports venues while others do not or not at all. Tax es are spent at the local levels.

Now, I am also one that does not advocate no government as people have already proven to me that they cannot live together or work as a commune together on a reasonable scale. Alliances are always formed….Hell, I am President of my homeowners association and no one gets along…it is human nature. And, I will add, most people want someone to tell them what to do.

You mentioned the TSA…..you forgot to mention that Texas only let them back in if they were funded federally. Not one dime of Texas money goes to the TSA and the TSA is only administered in those airports that have interstate commercial flights only. For example, in the airport that I fly out of that is located in Class B airspace with a fully staffed tower and terminal and is run run by the City of Fort Worth, there is no TSA. In addition to the TSA mandates, even in airports that are controlled by TSA, they are only located in commercial passenger terminals and have no jurisdiction over the general aviation at the same airports…including charter flights that operate interstate. So, yes, they are here, but not at our expense and only in specific areas.

The same with coal. We still mine and burn coal within our state boundaries.

Not saying that it is perfect but we have started a pretty strong independent movement away from Federal Control…..

Where we are indeed lucky is that we are a arge state and we have a very large diverse economy…But, people and companies are leaving California and New York and suchplaces in droves and coming and bringing their business and corporations to Texas for a reason….I suppose that no State income tax, either personal nor corporate, is a good draw.

JAC, you seem to assume that our coal fired plants pollute the air? Why cannot a State have its own clean air regulations free of the Feds…..for example, the coal fired utilities plant in Arlington, Texas, located right next to Lake Arlington have zero emmissions. They are recaptured and returned to burn units within the plant itself which fires its own utilities. The only emmission is steam. The same in Houston with all the chemical plants and the coal fired plants….all emmissions are captured and sent back inside. Used to when it rained in Houston, it was acid rain. Not any longer. On top of all these emmssion stacks is a horse-shoe looking thing that captures it and reuses that in some manner. Steam is all that is emmitted.

Now, admittedly, it was probably the creation of the EPA that made Texas do this years ago back in the 80’s….but it was still done. Probably to keep the EPA out. Can’s say much about the ground, however, and the 70 year old pipelines pumping crude oil under the citu of Houston to the ship channel for miles and miles….but it sounds as if you support a Federal EPA? That State’s cannot clean up their own environment.

Since we are on the gulf, our water runs South to the gulf….but, the rivers and streams have been clean for a long time…..we can even eat the fish and swim in the rivers,,,,and I have not seen any type of “sheen” on the waters in 40 years…..again, not to say it did not happen but I think the evolution of clean air has been something that would have happened anyway…..but we do have a very strong state environmental department that takes no prisoners. We do not need the Feds.

I have no problem with State water or air quality standards. As long as they do not adversely affect me. I do not support the EPA, the current one or any other form of it. HOWEVER, there has to be a mechanism for dealing with DAMAGE done by one state that flows into another. Water and Air are the two primary things that flow across state lines.

I do not accept the BF criteria of being able to prove direct and harmful impacts to A PERSON. Because we all know that the system will just drag on until they are dead. This is one reason we created these “regulatory agencies”. To replace litigation for every single case of harm. Unfortunately they are not working the way they should. And they just can’t stop regulating once most harm is removed.

Air and Water are different than other products. A state can create criteria for product safety which is “sold” within its boundaries. But Air and Water move per nature.

While your coal plants are clean today, they may not be tomorrow. And there are parts of the country where neither coal plants or industry really cares because the pollution moves down river/wind.

There is also the issue of holding National or International corporations accountable for pollution within your state. What do you do if they just pull out and go back to New York, leaving Texas holding the bag? My point here is that some “federal” systems and institutions are required to deal with issues involving more than one state within the union.

Nothing at all wrong with Texas Colonel, I really enjoyed my lengthy visit back in 1984. I did have some fun too! One of my friends from those months just left from a 5 day visit and will be back for some good archery hunting.

As far as just changing monopolies go, isn’t the local Boards of Education members elected? Are they not members of the parties? Do they reflect the local voting majority of those parties? That’s what I was speaking of, because that’s how things work most places. You vote for these people and most are party members. So instead of having Federal Party members running things, you have local party members running things. Regardless, even locally, it’s still a monopoly, especially in the Democrat controlled urban areas like the one I was raised in. The corruption is still rampant, long after I have left. Remember Jim Trafficant and his “beam me up, Scotty” speech on the House floor? He is but one who has seen the inside of a prison cell. There are many!

The problem with getting new people from all those Liberal States is that they bring with them their political ideology. You can have them Sir! I do feel for you if it continues.

You ought to have a “Texas Citizenship test” for them to pass. Otherwise you guys will end up like New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire, overrun by cretins who have “fled” only to try and replicate what they fled from.

My 1st WW French generals analogy. “It was not the machine gun that doomed frontal attacks, it was the lack of elan, of spirit in the troops.” So, it’s “let’s try it again, what we did in NYC or Boston (Or California) but this time with more spirit”.

Funny watching DeBlasio in NYC build up the welfare rolls again, stop community policing and pretend that not only did the last 20 years not happen (Guilliani & Bloomberg) but that the previous 30 didn’t either. (Wagner, Lindsay, Beame, Dinkins). Despite all the learned lessons on what NOT to do 1956 to 1990, we are doing it again!

New generation…..history phish….what’s the quote, “He who does not know history is bound to repeat it”

To JAC…..you have your drinking water facilities down stream from your sewage treatment plants.

I remember Boston (democrat controled) pushed their raw sewage pipes way out right into Stillwagon Banks off Cape Cod. Right into a prime humpback whale area. The whale watching ships were trying to get petitions signed to stop it. I rained on their spiel by pointing out that the HEAD of there ship pumped RAW waste along with the TP floating along with the turds into the ocean…..Their excuse was that they had NO faciity in Provincetown to pump out the tanks. Hire a honey truck. The US Coast Guard who would arrest any boater for such dumping also dumped RAW wast into the water. The only pump out station which was on Cape Cod was in Hyannis Port tucked back up at the harbors head and inaccessible, But Kennedy could proudly say they had one. We pumped into a container and then took it home.

Burlington VT while Bernie was being so environmentally concience, also pushed the waste pipes further out into Lake Champlain, No problem in Burlington…..further down the lake beaches were CLOSED, Wood Chip burning plants. Ruined our air quality not just the smoke, but the stench from the rotting wood chips. The damage to our roads NOT Burlington’s from the heavy trucks bring in the material. Bernie just raised his middle finger to the smaller communities. The Feds finally stepped in when Burlington was going to divert the entire winooski river while it was still in their jurisdiction and have the outflow back when it was in the jursidiction again, Winooski was to have a dry ditch at our falls. Tunnel to turbines for electricity.

I do remember the clean air monitors….companies just built the stacks taller

Just live downstream or downwind that will cure most water and air pollution issues..

The thing I do not understand is how the Obama administration really plans on powering areas like The Scranton/Wilkes Barre region of PA as an example. Coal is king with NG coming on strong but they also want that gone due to fracking.. The thing that changed was that people do not burn it anymore at their houses. The coal is burned in a controlled electrical power plant. Clean…the only thing you see is water vapor. Unlike days gone by when you’d choke and die. With Germany shutting down 100% of their nuclear power because of the Japan accident….when was the last tsunami in Germany? The country has astronomical power costs and also have refired their DIRTY (brown coal) burning power plants…..Coal companies in the US had to reshuffle due to Obama’s policies, but just ship the coal to the EU or China, they’ll buy it……I’d love to see NYC with a greater population than the entire state of NC meet it’s power requirements by solar, wind or other politically correct power sources.

The wests industrial revolution was FUELED by inexpensive power. Start with lots of timber, migrate to charcoal. as technology expanded into coal, then oil then nuclear. All to a tee were more environmentally friendly, cleaner and specifically used LESS space as each expanded. Today, the trend is wipe out all natural views and space at a higher cost and less reliable….go figure……no wonder industry has MOVED to China. We will no matter how we wish upon the stars will get relegated to the backwaters of history unless we truly like working as retailer clerks at Target.

I forgot to say….the solar, wind farms have to be in their jurisdiction. NOT dumped on some farmer, Let the wind farm be in Denver itself and not in what was once a beautiful area called Pawnees Butte/Bluffs and now off limits.

This is where the control of the legislature by the population rich areas such as NYC, DC LA, SF etc shove down the throats of the rural residents their politically correct agendas

The Columbia River Gorge was designated a Scenic area due to the greenies wanting to protect everything they could. They missed keeping the damns off the river and failed to get them removed during Clinton’s reign.

This meant, still means, you have to get Govt. approval of home and other building designs, roads, etc. in order to meet the strict visual protection requirements.

Then along came the Algorian Windmill Lobby. This is now the view for much of the Columbia River drive between Hermiston and The Dalles. It is even worse when you get some elevation and can see the prairies on the Plateau.

Trust me I know…..The scenic wonders of our nation are being destroyed by the greenies saving the environment…go figure. I do rememember the Dalles and the Columbia River gorge……I really do want to take at least one more long cross country road trip before I can not do it. Unfortunately I do remember the wide open areas and the prairies and mountains. Saw the cities grow up but stayed fairly compact. Even dams are a wonder. They do create a lot of recreation behind them. Wind farms shut it down

Wind farms in mountain areas cause irreparable damage, the roads to get the tower pieces and the blasting to create flat areas. all to create more expensive power mor unreliably and more unemployement and ruin whatever peace and serenity we used to get by getting away from it all. Wildlife destruction such a raptors is astronomical….try suing Iberbola protected. Shell oil that not protected. prosecutorial discretion…good for one has to be aplied equally or remove it from the books.

And here is the new view from around Judith Gap, Montana. A rural area that had little to say about the new “Energy Policies” of the State, under the last Democrat. Oh, this power goes to Utah. Funny part is the Greenies are now trying to stop the new transmission lines needed across National Forests to transport their Green Energy.

P.S. In case you couldn’t tell, I absolutely HATE these freakin windmills. They have destroyed the very thing we love in the west. Wide open space. The same thing the Greenies claim to love. As long as those things are not visible from their porch they don’t have a problem.

Couldn’t have guessed it….Thanks for the support. The towers that are under construction up in Elizbeth City (sp) are being built extremely high to get the more steady air currents. The coast guard and the Navy are having a fit. The power being generated is not going to NC but up to the Norfolk VA area. It also is directly in the Atlantic Flyway. That said when the people trying to stop it appealed to the Republican administration of NC, who fought the Democrat administrations previously of the wind farms. Just shrugged and said…..”Nothing they could do” and new law in DC that says if the FAA has NO problem….nothing can stop the project…..big fight right now up in Michigan on that. FAA ruled OK….doesn’t bother them of course it doesn’t….project full speed ahead……Law brought to us by the Republican congress in DC. The subsidies are still inplace yet they swore they’d get rid of them. Rolled totally over.

I’d like to keep my memories intact and look at my old pictures of our nations wonders. Not look at the industrialization of our scenic wonders. I wonder what John Muir would be doing today? Would he truly have stayed his course or cave into the politically correct. Just think, if he hadn’t been around when he was….Yosemite would be a submerged valley today, Just like Hetch Hetchy. Supplying SF. That was in San Fransico’s project plan.

From the Capes here in NC the views are pristine still. Unfortunately the Republican adminisration has sent in motion off shore windfarms. So much for the view.

Have to check on the status of the project in Nantucket Sound between Cape Cod and Marthas Vineyard. I think its dying

I just love the greenies. (sarc) They finally were able to get Maine Yankee shut down in Wiscasset ME. It was able to produce 100% of the States needs and then some that was sold to the grid for MA NH etc. The closure caused then a scrabble to generate the modest needs of the State, but also a huge unemployment problem in the city. The mayor and board have been trying to come up with solutions. One was to take the city’s waste products trash mostly and do a bio-fuel plant and then use that for power…..greenies said NO and blocked it. Bottom line greenies love control, but more than that they hate people. I really blasted off at some in Dallas one night, and suggested that THEY be the 1st to sacrifice and off themselves or make damn sure they do not reproduce….

Small analogy on battery use. Old submarines ran on diesel fuel on the surface or later with a snorkel. As long as they could get air. Surface speeds were quite fast. Dive and go below the surface, batteries were used. The faster you went the sooner you had to surface. The more electric services used the sooner the batteries bled off and you had to surface to be blasted. Nucs Unlimited power and the only limits wre food for the crew.

The greenies NEVER advertise that the wind farms only generate a fraction of their rated power capacity. Wind is to variable. Could blow when it’s not needed and then is dumped. The consumer is still billed. Whereas a traditional plant and even nuclear can reduce or increase as the need and demand arises. The plants can be tuned to optimum efficiency. I believe wind only gets around 18%-25% of their ratings. Any logical business would shut that inefficient business down instantly……except the greenies or “algorians” got the laws passed that guarenteed payment even if you DID NOT produce your advertised produce. How many companies are being sued by the FEDS for precisely that. False or misleading advertising. Again we come head on with “Prosecutorial Discretion”

Had an interesting conversation with an elderly Canadian couple here on vacation. We were talking about different places to visit. He talked about what he did. Worked for their wildlife agencies. He talked about when they shot seals up fiords on Baffin Island. Had to be careful about the water and its salinity. Fresh water and it sank like a stone, salt water at least ten minutes…in between a ratio. He said that was to EAT. Blubber the whole bit. The liver was particularly valuable to eat. He talked about finding a plane that landed up in the really northern lake areas. Abandoned, note left saying the people waited for rescue for 12 days before trying to hike out. He said they never made it. Probably walked in circles with all the marshes swamps and lakes. He did a lat long calculation with the OLD navigation tools. They tracked down the relatives and found that the missing people were lawyers (no great loss) who were amateur prospectors.

Former Texas Congressman and two-time GOP presidential contender Ron Paul said that U.S. elections are a charade and have been for a long time.

In an interview with RT, Ron Paul pointed out that the voting process is there essentially to appease the people, but that it is more of a “charade” and not really what determines who wins. He said whenever there is an “independent thinker” running who’s also gaining traction, the establishment gets desperate and changes the rules.

Ted Cruz’s recent sweeping of most of Colorado’s national delegates has caused an uproar among many voters. Trump and his supporters are livid, calling the system rigged and saying that Cruz won unfairly since “there was no voting,” as Trump told Fox & Friends. They’re using Colorado as yet another example of the establishment trying to stop Trump.http://constitution.com/former-gop-candidate-called-u-s-elections-charade-video/

In 2012 the RNC wrote the rules establishing that delegates had to vote for the winner of State primaries on either a winner take all or proportional basis, depending on how the State chose its ;method.

This rule was established by the “establishment” to block another Ron Paul from coming along and poaching delegates and then upsetting the TV coronation.

Colorado decided that being the renegades they are they would not follow this process. They would use delegated selected from the grass roots to run in a series of elections to get the final delegates. This of course would have been perfect for Ron Paul as he was the master at delegate manipulation.

Now we have Cruz doing what Ron Paul did, getting all the delegates, and Ron Paul and Trump complaining about the system being “rigged” in Colorado.

And as the colonel pointed out, these rules have not changed since Trump and Cruz got in the race. BOTH had a chance to win delegates. Bottom line is Trump did not play well in Colorado, as he does not play well in much of the west. This gave Cruz the chance to hog all the delegates. It helped him that Colorado’s caucus came after Rubio, Fiorina and Rand Paul dropped out.

Now, is there chances of manipulation and “rigging” within the Colorado system? You bet! Just like all systems can be rigged to some extent, even popular voting. But I find it frustrating seeing all the accusations about fixing by Cruz when his people simply played according to the rules of the game.

The worst thing about this is the “for” people are all being hailed as heroes. Brave, courageous, standing up for “rights” etc. The reality is that they are about as heroic as the German People were after 1933 when the Nazi’s were , brave, and heroic for standing up for what is right.

Robert Heinlein’s “crazy years” have come to pass. As we all rush pell-mell to throw ourselves over the cliff we push others out of the way so we can get there faster!

Does the phrase “They are were expendable” come to mind. Unfortunately the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club among other conservation groups have sold out to the politically correct greater good. And that is we have to save the planet. The companies building these monstrosities research very well where the optimum wind current blows. High low ridgelines you name it. Unfortunately they will share the same space that birds such as raptors and migratory birds use to get from one place to another or hunt. When the head of this administrations US Fish and Game agency flat out said when the wind farm planned at Pataxent MD showed it would decimate the eagle population that generations had spent time and energy re-establishing the population along that stretch of the bay. His quote was ” It would do to thin them out”

Bats have taken quite a hit from wind farms. Canada found that the deaths were not from blade strikes but burst blood vessels, caused by the compression of air as it whirls. In other words the WHOMP.

The sad thing is that the corporations are making money only by the subsidies paid by the government laid on the backs of the tax paying people. When this farce is finally stopped and I hope soon, and the business go bankrupt which many have and are soon to be, the tax payer again will be stuck with that bill to remove these towers. Not mentioning regrading the mountains where the roads have been cut. The coal companies were force to do it…but wind is getting a pass,

I said it before, those countries that have really staked their nations life on this technology are failing fast. Especially those industries that require lots of energy like steel. Just recently England headed into a national crisis with their steel industry. Spain had it 8 years ago. England shut their last coal mine last year. Unfortunately the only people that are getting it right in the rear end are the tax payers again. To retain the industries huge subsidies are given so they won’t move to China as an example.

Whats sad it that the rated capacity of a wind farm is rarely if ever obtained. The real numbers are 25% of rated output. To obtain the real numbers they need to build out 75% more turbines. So as the law says by X date we’ll have X% by renewables and now we only get < 10% maybe in a dream and we see the natural environmental disaster that has occured….just imagine what our nations landscape will look like in 10 years.

I forgot….just the other year a couple month low settled in over England. They could not produce enough energy to run industry and heat homes at the same time. They had to choose. They decommission coal driven electrical generators and nuclear as fast as the math says they are at parity. Except when the wind doesn’t blow they’re screwed.

Scotland has used up all the optimum regions with wind farms, To meet the political dictates they’re moving into the 2nd and 3rd tier of less optimum regions, requireing even more…..its exponentlally expanding. The people are finally waking up because the government and companies are demanding the sacrifice of forest areas that have been preserved for generations.

Question to JAC? Have you heard up in your neck of the woods, that we should start capturing the thermal energy in Yellowstone….wouldn’t it be something if they do and then trip that magma bubble and cause the super volcano to blow. That’ll ruin their day. They’ll get the population reduced and global cooling on a major scale simultainiously.

You know that this will have a bad end. Let us face it man requires a religion Since all religions deserve to be destroyed for their past evil deeds. Except of course for Islam whom the left just chooses to ignore (since it has been sinned against, the Crusades don’t you know), a new religion will rise to the fore, The Earth Mother Goddess!

Now we already are seeing the formation of laws to protect the earth Mother Goddess. While you can deny the existence of all other Gods, humiliate and make fun of them or worse (except Allah of course) you are not free to question Earth Mother Goddess. To deny the harm we do to her is to attack her very being and reality. We have been warned already by the master class that failure to acknowledge our sins, past and present, will subject us to dire penalties.

We are already offering up living sacrifices to her, the birds, the fish. It is just a matter of time till the sacrifices become human. Should the planet continue to warm as it has in the past, the sacrifices will have to become human. The elimination of the old and useless, the young who will consume the Earth Mother’s resources and of course the agnostics who do not believe in Earth Mother. This will be sanctioned by the black robed Judge-priests and priestesses. They will determine the 14th amendment covers it!

While reading your post I was having flashbacks to that mid 60’s margerine commercial. When the FDA and AMA were condemming butter and formulated that healthy chemically produced un-natural stuff. Look how that turned out.

Beliefs regarding Gaia vary, ranging from the belief that Gaia is the Earth to the belief that she is the spiritual embodiment of the earth, or the Goddess of the Earth.

In Gaia’s Revenge: Climate Change and Humanity’s Loss, Peter Liotta and Allan Shearer argue that scenario analysis can be a useful tool for policymakers searching for the proper response to the impending challenges presented by climate change.

There have been various attempts to capture geo thermal energy in the Yellowstone area for decades. Although limited to outside the Park. So far the greenies have stopped all such efforts, to my current knowledge. Because such use could jeopardize the “unique geo thermal activity within the park itself.”

Meanwhile Nevada and parts of Idaho tapped into the Geo-thermal where it exists. Part of Boise Idaho was heated with geo thermal back in the late 1800’s early 1900’s. Even used the heat to keep the streets snow and ice free in the winter. But alas, the city outgrew the resource pretty quickly.

Irony in it’s true form. The GOP lost in 2012, and oh did we all hear about how the millions of voters that didn’t show up caused that. Do you all remember that? Those voters who didn’t show up were Paul supporters who watched their candidate get shafted, especially by a new rule change (40b). Lot’s of people have long memories, so now we have this crap with Colorado. So what is happening now…..

Some are complaining because Trump is whining. Fair enough, he is. That however simply don’t solve the long term issues, that occurred in 2012. Once again, a large group of people, just like 2012, are feeling disenfranchised, and rightly so. The stupidity of the establishment has now led to another election that, despite record participation in primaries, the GOP will throw away because they have ZERO vision. Why? Because they only want control and control blinds people.

Republicans are burning their voter registration cards in droves, all over the US. They are done. Not really a surprise, since they are simply catching. With high ranking Republicans stating they would vote for Hillary, if Trump should win the nomination, is a clear sign that the establishment don’t give one shit about the voters.

I’m loving all of this, because it’s shows clearly how we have NO real free and fair elections. Elections are controlled events, for the masses who still believe they matter. They don’t. NAFTA has proven that. Elections have proven that. This current Congress has overwhelmingly proven that.

The GOP and Republicans have handed another election to a bunch of Nazi’s. Nice.

They really don’t care. They have been party of losers since Hoover. Mentally they throw in the towel. They carry around the Great Depression and Slavery like they caused both. Even huge victories like Eisenhower, Nixon over McGovern and Reagan do nothing for them. It is the party of half empty.

In nature you have the predators and the scavengers. The damned Republicans are the scavengers if the Shark Party leaves them some scraps they are happy and forever grateful.

An ‘alarming’ admission about student loans… Obama ‘forgives’ 400,000 borrowers… More big names speak out on negative interest rates… One of the world’s best bond investors is buying… gold miners?…

The growing bubble in student loans is one of the biggest threats to the U.S. today.

To put the size of this problem in perspective, consider this: At almost $1.3 trillion in loans outstanding, student-loan debt is almost three times bigger than all the debts of Greece. And it’s still growing at 17% a year… more than seven times the official rate of inflation.

More than 40% of the federal government’s outstanding loans are not being paid today… and nearly one in six borrowers is already in default. But according to the latest report from the Federal Reserve, even those frightening numbers may not tell the whole story.

In its Quarterly Debt Monitor, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis noted current delinquency rates are concerning, but said the true rates could actually be even higher. From the report…

These delinquency rates likely understate the effective delinquency rates, because many student loans are in deferment, grace periods or forbearance and are temporarily not in the repayment cycle.

The implications of these alarmingly high rates is not immediately clear, especially given that many student loans cannot be shed in personal bankruptcy. However, a large share of young borrowers saddled with severely delinquent loans may inhibit aggregate economic growth as this group is unable to participate in other economic activities, such as buying a home or saving for retirement.

As a colleague noted in a private e-mail this morning, when the Federal Reserve – whose officials played no small role in creating this problem – is using phrases like “alarmingly high,” you know it’s getting bad.

Unfortunately, if a recent survey of the youngest borrowers is any indication, it could get even worse from here…

A survey by research agency TNS found “millennials” – defined here as those between the ages of 18 and 35 – have average student-loan debt of more than $41,000. That is 40% higher than the national average.

But that’s not all…

Most young students already regretted taking out these loans, and one in three said he wishes he hadn’t gone to college at all.

Nearly two out of every three students had “no idea” when they would be able to pay back their debt… 8% said they have no plan to pay their debts back… and another 8% percent said they planned to delay payment by going back to school (and taking on even more debt).

Clearly, this trend is unsustainable. Huge numbers of young people are borrowing huge sums of money they have no hope (or intention) of ever paying back.

As we’ve discussed, student loans can’t easily be canceled through bankruptcy, like other forms of debt. But there are signs that could change…

Yesterday, the Obama administration announced it was forgiving the student loans of hundreds of thousands of borrowers. According to reports, the Department of Education will send forgiveness letters to 387,000 people identified as “eligible for a total and permanent disability discharge.”

Unlike the normal process for receiving federal disability – which requires documented proof of a disability – these borrowers will simply have to sign and return an application letter. As Under Secretary of Education Ted Mitchell said in a statement, “Americans with disabilities have a right to student loan relief… And we need to make it easier, not harder, for them to receive the benefits they are due.”

If all 387,000 people identified participate, the government will “discharge” nearly $8 billion in loans. It’s a small step, but it’s likely just the first of many more to come.

Much like the Greek debt crisis, many of these loans have virtually no chance of ever being paid back. Sooner or later, the government will have no choice but to forgive these debts or allow them to default.

Of course, debts don’t simply disappear. In either case, creditors (read: U.S. taxpayers) will be left with the tab.

In a weekend interview with financial newspaper Barron’s, Bill Gross – the former “Bond King” who previously managed the world’s largest mutual fund at PIMCO – explained how low (and now negative) interest rates are destroying our economy from the inside out…

The best examples of this include the business models of insurance companies and pension funds. Insurers have long-term liabilities and base their death benefits, and even health benefits, on earning a certain rate of interest on their premium dollars. When that rate is zero or close to it, their model is destroyed.

To use another example, California bases its current and future pension payments to civil workers on an estimated future return of 8% or so from bonds and stocks. But when bonds return 1% or 2%, or nothing in Germany’s case, what happens? We’ve seen the difficulties that Puerto Rico, Detroit, and Illinois have faced paying their debts.

Now consider mom and pop and other people who read Barron’s. They are saving for retirement and to put their kids through college. They might have depended on a historic 8%-like return from stocks and bonds. Well, sorry. When interest rates get to zero – and that isn’t the endpoint; they could go negative – savers are destroyed. And savers are the bedrock of capitalism. Savers allow investment, and investment produces growth.

Larry Fink, CEO of asset-management giant BlackRock, agrees. In his latest annual letter to shareholders published Sunday, he also singled out how negative rates could crush investors who are already struggling to save enough for retirement. From the letter…

Not nearly enough attention has been paid to the toll these low rates – and now negative rates – are taking on the ability of investors to save and plan for the future. People need to invest more today to achieve their desired annual retirement income in the future.

For example, a 35-year-old looking to generate $48,000 per year in retirement income beginning at age 65 would need to invest $178,000 today in a 5% interest rate environment. In a 2% interest rate environment, however, that individual would need to invest $563,000 (or 3.2 times as much) to achieve the same outcome in retirement.

This reality has profound implications for economic growth: consumers saving for retirement need to reduce spending if they are going to reach their retirement income goals and retirees with lower incomes will need to cut consumption as well. A monetary policy intended to spark growth, then, in fact, risks reducing consumer spending.

The running joke up in the Raleigh Durham Chapel Hill area is “What does a UNC Chapel Hill graduate say to a NC State graduate in the morning?”…. “Would you like for me to “biggy size that order for you?”

The sad thing is…A nephew of mine worked for Duke University. He was a manager of research grants and advanced studies. Selecting through the applicants and delving out the money. He used to continually comment that the majority of the recipients of the grants and applications for advanced degrees were students from other countries, like China, India etc…..US residents not only were rare in the application process but also didn’t have the same level of drive and grades as the other students……Obvious….those students had a place to when they graduated…..so the US residents did not even bother after awhile.

It’s called “Freedom of the Seas”. Don’t forget that Putin has been declared a menace by Obama for being big bad boy and Russia has a major naval port is St Petersburg. That said, many nations that border the Baltic are NATO members as are we.

I only exponded on the reason for the presence in the Baltic. Our policy has been so wacked out of late I wouldn’t know where to begin. Your comment after this expanded the thoughts quite well. The only true “growth” industry in this country is the military arms complex. At least that for the most part can not be outsourced. But it sure can suck up billions like the F-35 project.

Not that I’m looking for enemies, but the advisors to the White House seem to be stuck in the Cold War with Russia as the chief protagonist. Since Carter, with a brief hiatus with Reagan that guy Brezinski (SP) has a visceral hatred towards Russia. He is a chief advisor for Obama. He hated Nixon and Kissinger for initiating Detente.

I agree that Putin is a menace…and a psychopathic murderer. But that doesn’t mean we should be knocking on his door asking if he wants to come out to play. I see our forces as being spread out across the globe intimidating and provoking everyone we can. Then when somebody does smack us upside the head we have “good reason” to start WWIII.

And, of course, we have left our back door open with a neon sign above it that says ‘Come on in, make yourself at home!’

So we can provoke the Russians! It has worked well so far in the Ukraine and Georgia! I never was a believer in the “Military Industrial Complex” until after 9/11. It is however so incredibly obvious that we want to goad the Russians. If you follow the military “analysts” on Fox and the other channels it is blatantly obvious they want another Cold war.

The side deal with Reagan was that we would allow them their sphere of influence. Bush 1, 2, Clinton and Obama have made a joke of that. Eventually everything would have settled down but the expansion of NATO into the Russian back yard was just plain nuts.

Stalin “mixed up” the ethnicity of the Soviet Union. He put Russians in Latvia and Lithuania and Lithuanians in Georgia and Estonians in Kazakstan in an attempt to weaken internal opposition. The WW 2 experience shows what happens when a large power, Germany then, uses the pretext of mistreatment of ethnic Germans as a causus belli.

The stupidity demonstrated by out leaders is beyond belief. Anybody who knows any history watched the forced repatriation of ethnic minorities back to countries they had not lived in in centuries. I know a whole bunch of ethnic Italians kicked out of Yugoslavia in the late ’40’s who had been there for centuries. Same with Germans in Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The post WW 2 leadership in the US Military knew war, total war. I’ve always felt that their successors regretted not being there . Viet-nam, The Gulf war, Afghanistan, Iraq, were all side shows. They want the real deal. Millions of casualties and all.

One of my Great Grandfathers was from Memel, a city in East Prussia, Germany, now Klaipėda, part of Lithuania. If he hadn’t left the German army in 1896 and emmigrated to the US I’m sure that he and his family wouldl have eventually been expelled or killed.

The disliking of other peoples and cultures in europe run deep. I had thought that the church that he started with several other families had a mix of ethnic families especially from that region of the Baltic. Recently I found out otherwise. Turned out that they and others left the church they had attended for almost 20 years to found a new one…..reason, there were to many Poles at Immanual. They were all Lutheran

When you dig you start to understand why they left. My grandpop was Rus/Ruthebnian, the original Russians. Over the years they migrated to the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in modern Galacia. His immigration forms indicate he was considered a subject of Austria. After WW 1, the empire was split and the are became Poland. The Jews and Ruthenians petitioned unsuccessfully to have that part of Galacia stay under Austrian control. Well the Poles were not friendly to either group. In 1905 Grandpop must have had a vision because he was smart to get out.

Watched “fiddler on the Roof” the other night. Tevya who was thrown out of his village was done a huge favor by those Cossacks. He went to America. Otherwise he would have gone (or his descendants) to Auschwitz!

As I was leaving the grocery store today, I glance at the headlines of the papers on the news stand. Had to be the NY Times front page article that said Regulators say that “The top 5 US banks, STILL to big to fail”…….hell’s bell’s they failed 7 years ago. The Fed’s and Government bailed them out because they were to big to LET fail. Pardon…the tax payer bailed them out. The government policy even made them bigger and even more prone to taking bigger risks knowing full well they’re covered.

Not much difference when the US intercepts Russian bombers near US airspace if you ask me. There are a couple ways of looking at this. Why do we need weapons of war over there? If this were a US flagged fishing boat, no one would care, even the Russians. While the ship was fully within the law and it’s rights to be there, isn’t it also the right of the Russian aircraft to be flying there as well?

As long as this idiot government continues to interfere in the affairs of sovereign nations, this kind of stuff will occur. Maybe the fact that the US spent 5 billion dollars to overthrow the Ukrainian government a few years ago, then have US officials caught on tape in meetings with the new government shortly there after may be the cause of this. It should also be said that the Obozo administration hasn’t done much of anything other than to F up everything it’s touched and the Russians know he is a spineless coward. The fly=by made for cool video though. No harm done, until one is shot out of the sky.

Hypothetical scenario for you. Say there is a man that is considered my enemy, who I’ve had conflict with in the past, that lives 100 miles from me. We consistently bicker on social media. Everyone knows we are enemies. I may be free within the law to drive my car over to his house and circle the block over and over. But why would I go 100 miles out of my way just to circle his block? Any rational thinking person would say that I was intimidating or trying to provoke this man. No? Same thing with this incident only we are talking about thousands of miles.

A wise person once told me ‘Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it.’

Here is the thing. We were not thousands of miles out of our way. Our ships routinely sail all the oceans and visit ports around the globe. We have allies in the Baltic. Russia has been harassing Finland and Sweden. They are also loosely allies.

You example of trying to intimidate or confront is more appropriate to what Russia has been doing.

If we extend your logic then the US naval vessels should never leave US waters or at least never sail within 2000 miles of Russia, China or whatever other country declares us a pain in their arse. I am all for not intervening in others affairs but taking a posture that we are provoking people because we sail in international waters is just a bridge to far.

These countries have had quite a history over the millenia. The USSR history is just a moment of time and only began slightly before our oldest SUFA member.

The global geopolitical climate sort of reminds me of climate change. The world has picked a moment of time and is trying to preserve it. It’s a fantasy and delusional. Things change constantly.

The Baltic States have been a huge part of “European” history and seem to have closer ties in that direction than to the nation further east. That said, with those States inclusion since 2004 into NATO and all the other European political systems, such as the EU, Schengen, OECD etc, this certainly falls within the Putin period. I’d think these countries should be justifiably nervous about Putin’s intentions and the weakness of NATO countries, not the US militarily. Our weakness is the inconsistancy and political weirdness of the current administration.

If I was in charge of our geopolitical activities, I’d be assuaging Putin’s fears Russia’s paranoia of the west and get the focus back on the M/E fanatics who pose a greater threat to both Russia and the west and our cultures. Islam is a complete antithesis of our cultures. China is just an economic threat and that is only because the US and Europe have put environmental and labor regulations in place enabling China to fill that opportunity of capitalism and could be weakened significantly if the “algorians” would be beamed to the moon.. Russia should be cultivated as a bulwark against radical Islam. The Pope just recently said, Russia will save Christianity which is a comment on the secular mindset of the europeans. A single navy ship or a few F-16’s are not a provocation….however, it may convince Putin that he can get away with it by the US being so irresolute on ALL our international activities of late. Heck Putin has played the “Great Game” a lot longer than Obama and whomever is his successor……One thing that always has stuck in my mind about a quote from TR. “Don’t bluster” The last two Secretary of State’s we’ve had can absolutely be labeled amateurs in a very critical time of history.

This discussion can go in circles and have justifications on all sides. What we do not know or figure out is “What is our true policy” Right now it just seems to be akin to a bull in the china shop more than anything.

I was going to stay quiet on this one….but reading the comments, I have to admit to being baffled, confused, scratching my head, and trying to figure out why everyone is so stressed over this…..

First, military ships in international waters is a common thing. Look at the Gulf of Mexico…we have Russian ballistic missile submarines that routinely cruise outside our three mile limit….ROUTINELY. We have Russian warships ( ie. Guided missile frigates and destroyers ) ROUTINELY patrol the gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana in and around our oil platforms…..they get as close as 300 yards. They routinely run attacl drills on these platforms and blockade drills off the mouth of the Mississippi River and Delta, as well as, drills against the Houston ship harbors and oil refineries. They laser the refineries and the oil platforms and laser all commercial shipping in and out of the harbors of New Orleans, Houston, Beaumont, and Corpus Christi…including the naval base at Corpus. So, I see absolutley no problem with military shipping in International Waters anywhere. If anyone has an issue with provocation, I would think that laser range finders and laser target acquisition in the Gulf should be significant provocation.

Secondly, I think that the commander of that frigate should have shot down both jets….he exercised some judgement in that our technology knew that the jets were unarmed. But as a combat veteran and former commander that has been faced with decisions…not responding in an aggressive manner ( ie: shotting a flaming arrow up the jet exhaust and blowing them into little pieces of atoms ) is a serious mistake that will lead to indecision in the future. Now, before any of you get your little flower panties in a wad, I will explain my position. As a former commander that has had to make decisions in the past in desert and jungle environments, failing to respond to any threat creates indecision. The commander of the frigate,destroyer, row boat or whatever that floating thing was….should have pulled the trigger. Failing to “flame” the intruders has now created an issue of indecisiveness. With the speed and the technology today, as well as the technology of creating a stealth environment that can mask the emissions of weaponry, those aircraft could have just as easily been armed. Any attack profile…..ANY ATTACK PROFILE…..ANY ATTACK PROFILE….should be met with deliberate and lethal challenge. PERIOD!!!! What would have been the outcry if the planes were not harrassing and playing a deadly game? We would be crucifying the commanders and the navy. Let me categorically state in clear and precise terms…..in CAPS for inference…ANY ATTACK PROFILE IN ANY INTERNATIONAL WATERS OR BOUNDARIES SHOULD BE MET WITH LETHAL CHALLENGE. By failing to do so, has put every ship in future danger…..and the sword swings both ways

Third….I have had significant experience in using the IFF technology in the desert. ( Look it up if you do not know what it is ). If it does not blink, transmit, or respond…….shoot it. All military personnel, even in live fire peace time training, understands the risks involved. When you are on the open seas ( and, YES, anyone has the RIGHT to be there ) and an attack profile happens in a NON PUBLICIZED training exercise…..you shoot it. You do not have the time to “think” about it.

It is easy to be an arm chair ranger……it worked out THIS time…..what about the next? What about being lulled into a false sense of security.

Now, as my parting shot across the bow……some reference was made to intercepting Russian aircraft in and around Alaska. Every country that has an active military always “challenges” any intrusion or APPARENT intrusion into its airspace or boundaries. Remember the shooting down of our U2 spy plane back in the 60’s….we knew the risks and it got shot down. We did not respond with any lethal means. Remember the Korean airliner shot down because it “supposedly” strayed over unfriendly territory. Unchallenged intrusions is a weakness that should not be tolerated. The consequences are more dire than not. And, please, no diatribe about starting Worl War three. I can guarantee you that if we had shot down the Russian aircraft….there would have been no reprisal. The Russians knew the risks and so did the pilots. It was a test and we failed.

Not sure I would have flamed him the first time. But the second for sure.

What little video I saw made the whole thing look like a show. I am thinking there is much more to this whole event than we know. Like what were the standing orders for the mission? How do they match up with the narrative being told to the world?

My thought on the video was that on the second pass it would have been convenient if one of the officers was doing a little skeet shooting off the bow. At that range a little buckshot floating in the air would be enough to send the message.

“If anyone has an issue with provocation, I would think that laser range finders and laser target acquisition in the Gulf should be significant provocation.”

I have issues with this as well. This is a good example of a better place for our destroyer (or row boat 🙂 )

“Secondly, I think that the commander of that frigate should have shot down both jets….”

I agree with that and I agree with your reasoning. I understand International waters and the right to sail them. I just don’t agree that we should be there right now. I believe there are more important places to be at the moment.

“Unchallenged intrusions is a weakness that should not be tolerated. The consequences are more dire than not.”

I firmly agree. It would not take much effort for several attacks all at the same time in different locations by, say….Russia, Iran, China, etc, to deal a significant blow to our military or homeland or both. We are spread out too thin. We have our hands in too many cookie jars, if you will.

And, when SHTF, I want men like you, Colonel, to be in command. I know problems will be dealt with swiftly and effectively.

” I just don’t agree that we should be there right now. I believe there are more important places to be at the moment.” If that is your posture, I can and will support your reasons for thinking this way.

Keep in mind, that in the gulf, we have very capable and supplied naval reserve units that shadow all movements. And, what most people do not know, we have a very good Gulf Protection grid. It is a shallow body of water…..a squid cannot fart without us hearing and knowing where it is.

In a more succinct manner, I believe you confirmed my comment. The indecisiveness and weakness shown is far more provocative and dangerous that if as you say…..2nd pass ciao, baby. The navy’s and armed forces are constantly testing each other and judging each other. Then why do we get all a wad when any Russian ship even comes our vicinity. Create a crisis where there is none. “Wag the Dog” Why? In 78 two Libyan migs were shot down off Sicily by F-104’s taking with it an Alitalia airliner that they were using as cover. Today, anyone want to quess the action. The lawyers would not have given permission to splash the migs…….just like during the tanker escorts in the gulf during the Iran Iraq war. Commanders were ordered to LOCK down their defensive weapons ie their phalanx systems so NO newspaper reporter trying to get a story would get shot down. The commander was court martialed….

The one thing I didn’t say in my last post. Regardless of who is in power in Rusiia, Putin is 1st and foremost Russan and believes in the greatness of Russia as a nation. We on the other hand have a leader who has every intent on demeaning our nation and fundamentally changing America, and DOES NOT believe in it’s greatness and our founding Father’s foundation of laws. A nation has to operate in it’s self interests above all. Putin is doing that. Obama is deferring to the Tower of Babel on the East River. Where will that leading us. Anarchy and chaos, irresolution and indecisivness.

Me…I do NOT want to be like Europe, politically or socially. That is why 100% of the family left from the mid 1800’s and continuing unto this day. Nobody is clamoring to go back, but are rapidly severing the remaining economic ties.

I for one in not in favor of the “internationalist” trend in the west’s politics. Be it spreading communism or democracy. Deferring national self interests to the UN BS on that. Who is behind all this. Central Banks? Get everyones finances in such a twist.

My comment on “Bluster” I will assume our government is all in a twist over the flyover. As you said…it’s a test and we failed. There were similar flyovers in the Black Sea recently….bluster over the action and then nothing. Now in the Baltic…..the gulf with Iran….China….bluster and then nothing. Why would Russia, Iran and China NOT continue to operate in THEIR national self interests. What unfortunately I see is a situation shaping up like the 30’s and the appeasement poiicy. They could have shut Hitler down at the “Rhineland” occupation. Europe has gotten themselves into a position where they NEED and require foreign assistance to survive. Defense….us and energy from Russia and the M/E. Why were they so all fired up over Libya…energy…why cave on everything with Iran once a capitulatory administration was in place here. Obama and Kerry. At least Bush II and Condelezza Rice gave them backbone. Energy. Syria…energy and NG a pipeline from the Gulf States. They lack the national resolve to be independent of required material for survival. That allows BLACKMAIL.

The personal policy of NOT replacing youself with children has been a major problem in Europe since I was stationed there 35 years ago. What was Merkels thing…we need the workers, they have nobody coming up the pipeline. Their energy policy is accelerating their heavy industry to leave. It’d be one thing to invite an open door to our, the US unemployed college students at least they think alike. But to open door a polar opposite culture in by the millions……ha. Try getting a work visa in the EU.

TR’s comment was …..Once you warn, don’t do that again or next time I’ll blast you. If they do it again make sure you shoot….we’re blustering….nobody believes anymore but are left scratching their heads.

You can “light him up”. You lock your AA Missiles on him from your CIC, before during or after, especially after. Let them guess. If they turn around and make a second run well then maybe a little fun is in order. First you broadcast a warning.

C’mon guys, they do it we do it. We poked them in the eye several times and they are doing tit for tat. If I were Putin I’d keep doing it, just to show the world what a blinking idiot O’Bama is!

I looked at the Baltic map and see Sweden, Finland, Deutchland and Denmark on it as well as the eastern European states. Just how much of their GDP are they spending on defense? We, all by ourselves managed to play this game with the Soviets for over 40 years time to take a breather. Next time we expect it to happen, better idea would be to put our Navy girls in bikinis reclining in deck chairs on the fantail or focsle and have them wave at the pilots as they fly by. Now THAT woudl get Putin’s attention!

Well….here is what usually happens….if it happened in this case, I do not know. Not yet…I will read the intel report when it is available.

These planes did not show up all of a sudden. We tracked them probably from when they took off from whatever location they were. We have that technology. We also have the technology that is usually correct in that we can detect weaponry that is laser armed ( without them even being turned on ), we can track any weaponry that uses depleted uranium or any ion structure. What we cannot track is conventional black powder or regular rocet fuel type weaponry……until it is fired. However, the planes in the “flyby” routinely carry laser activated and ion weaponry. Planes that are going to attack also carry a different posture than those that are simply flying to enjoy the weather. I am quite sure we “locked on” them from 30 miles out. I am also sure that they were tracked by AWACS. We routinely fly AWACS all along that area. The Russian aircraft, as a matter of “formality” were probably flashed with IFF. Now, the Russians know that when they assumed an attack posture, they would be scanned immediately for laser or ionized weaponry…so none were turned on or they were nor armed. Remember that the terminiology of “armed” has changed. Today, armed means…”turned on”….not what is on or in the plane. A plane carrying weaponry is not necessarily “armed”.

The other thing to remember, is that low flying or “buzzing” aircraft are also scanning our technology as it pertains to lock on and tracking procedures. Any commander worth his salt, is not going to go “dark” with aircraft assuming an attack posture. So, they gained intelligence on their fly bys.

Putin played a dangerous game and he won. But had we shot them down, there would have been the bluster and the posturing and the outcry and the diplomatic innuendos…..but it would have stopped there,

No Colonel,. something would happen if we shot them down especially without a broadcasted warning. It probably wouldn’t be WW 3 but it would be messy for a few folks. Then of course, we would have to retaliate. Offhand, them sharing a few Manpads with the Iranians for distribution down the line would be my choice if I were the Russians. Quite frankly, it shows remarkable restraint that they have not done so yet. I expected it as pay back for Afghanistan which of course we did partially as payback for Viet-nam. .

Stephen, I will have to disagree. This is cold war bullshit. Same old crap as in the 60’s. Putin is an old hard line cold warrior……I know the rules of engagement….there are fly bys and there is attack posture. We do flybys all the time but not from attack posture. Reams of intelligence happened on this. I can guarantee you that these guys were locked on 30 miles out and I can also guarantee you that the CDR issued his warnings. The POTUS cannot order the CDR not to follow procedure…that would be an immoral order. He can order the CDR not to fire but I doubt very seriously if the POTUS was even notified. CIC has an immediate sat com with the situation room…they knew what was happening. The situation room has been replaced by arm chair generals that are political appointees. They are not hardened combat vets…..those have been replaced long ago. Just look at their uniforms and you do not see a single Air Medal or CIB or even a V Bronze star…..nothing. They are political hacks. What they have are a bunch of rainbow ribbons signifying bull shit classes…the same rainbow ribbons that I refused to wear and got in trouble for not wearing when I was in Washington for my mandatory “staff” time. Most of those generals do not even have a campaign ribbon or even a Presidential Unit Citation but they are in charge….that would be the same as putting an Ensign in charge of a Carrier Group.

Russia would not retaliate as there would be no reason for it. They took a chance and they won. Each low level pass from an attack posture gathered intelligence. Had any pickle been turned on from the Russkies, perhaps we would have fired. Our presence in the oceans of the world is not tantamount to war and is no threat to anyone…if you want to talk about costs, that is a different issue. Shadowing each other is done all the time…BUT….what is not done is attack posturing. For example, the Russkies fly towards our Alaskan border all the time….but they do it from straight line flight patterns….they do not do it at low level, wave top penetration levels….they tried that a couple of times in the 70’s and they lost.

No….I am afraid that I would have splashed them immediately when they assumed an attack posture that is different from a normal fly by. They gained a great amount of intelligence or confirmed what they already knew.

I had almost typed my for response when an errant finger canceled theh response.

I can not imagine any Cmdr not having a full weapons lock and tracking with the appropriate weapon systems able to handle these planes. To not do so would have been a dereliction of his duty to his ship and crew. Of course they are gathering data and that is not just electronic information. Mood temperment and how far they can push.

To Gman’s post about the shrinking fleet. It is a disgrace and the fleet is NOT able to keep up the pace. One reason of the shortage of ships is as an example the Arleigh Burke destroyer. Extremely capable, but they cost $2B a pop. You can not build many. Plus they are all low manpower ships. They’ll burn out the crews fast and also the ships themselves due to lack of maintenance because they’ll keep getting held back for some mission or another. It used to take close to a year to bring a destroyer back up to its original fighting capability. Things that need a shipyard to repair, Like an important item the forward gun turret frozen in place. The missile launchers not functional, God knows where the TACAN guided planes. It took me 3 months to rebuild it from masthead to repeaters on the bridge, The cruiser variant even more expensive and built on the same hull. What was a Spruance class destroyer. When we’re talking 6,000 tons for a destroyer instead of 2,000 that compares in size to a WWII cruiser, Except exponentally more firepower. I believe ALL frigates are just about gone from the fleet. Designed around anti submarine warfare. Obviously the navy doesn’t look at that being a threat anymore….sort of like the air force and the F-35. It will try and do all things for all people in any situation, and do none well. At $135M each, not many will get out there
The length of time from design to delivery is so long today, by the time the 1st one is delivered the powers are being bombarded with…..but just look what we can do with this newest and latest idea, Program gets canceled once the system is geared up…F-22 Raptor as an example and the forces have waited how long for the new idea, A decade. Heck,,,the F-15 has been flying over 40 years now and is still a top plane. 1960’s design. Obviously upgraded over time. Why risk a 135M plane when an old no frills Warthog that is indestructable, CHEAP can do the job better.

Colonel, as I thought about this incident (and the others), I couldn’t help be consider that we have a narcissist ego maniac psychopath for a President who can make poor decisions, if for nothing else, to show Putin up at least once while in office. Putin has made him look weak and everyone in the world knows it. As far as the Navy commander, my guess is that they are all under orders to do what he did, nothing. That’s the rules of engagement under Obozo. Will Obozo use this incident as an actual attack in the future, similar to the Gulf of Tonkin attack (2nd claimed attack) that took us into Vietnam? Obozo is a sick minded man, I doubt he has enough respect for others lives to be too concerned over starting a big war, one which could delay his exit from office. I don’t put anything past the puppet masters. They want control and Trump and Sanders seem to be a serious threat.

A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft on Thursday in the latest military provocation by Moscow over the Baltic Sea, the U.S. European Command said Saturday.

The U.S. aircraft, a militarized Boeing 707 jet, was operating in international airspace and at no time crossed into Russian territory, said the Navy, as reported first by The Washington Free Beacon.

“On April 14, a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft flying a routine route in international airspace over the Baltic Sea was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 in an unsafe and unprofessional manner,” Navy Capt. Danny Hernandez on Saturday told Fox News and other new gathering agencies.

The incident follows Russian jets on Tuesday night reportedly flying very close the to the American destroyer USS Donald Cook in international Baltic Sea waters.

“This intercept comes shortly after the unsafe Russian encounters with USS Donald Cook,” Hernandez said. “There have been repeated incidents over the last year where Russian military aircraft have come close enough to other air and sea traffic to raise serious safety concerns, and we are very concerned with any such behavior.”

“This unsafe and unprofessional air intercept has the potential to cause serious harm and injury to all aircrews involved,” Hernandez continued. “More importantly, the unsafe and unprofessional actions of a single pilot have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries.”

Hi JAC. Told ya it’s depressing out there. I’ve gone more and more Galt. at least with the internet, news and politics. Not 100% but I’m close. Some days I don’t even turn the machines on. SUFA is still my go to for anything important, I know you guys are on it. But my other sites, pfffft. It’s ridiculous now. The anger and divide is deep out there. It’s like nobody can be wrong. And they’ll shame you no matter who you are, who you support what your position is or why. I just want to live in Watter’s World where they’re all oblivious. They always seem to be happy. Kinda like the less I know , the happier I am. 🙂

No big plans for the summer. New hires must wait a year before time off is allowed. So I’m grounded til the end of October. Good thing is the workweek ends at noon on Friday, so I can still relax on the lake on the weekends. Good enough for me for a summer.

I’ve clearly missed something…what’s with chalk? Has someone determined its hazardous to ones health or is it students protested aging “writing” I shall not 1000 times on the board or being punished by having to scrub the black board….what about thechemicals to create the white board and the chemical markers used…..chalk is NATURAL.

It’s sort of like the art colony in Woodstock NY has banned all turprintine and oil/natural based art materials …has to be all synthetic….I do not get it

Yeah, you’re definitely out of the chalk loop, Dale. Campus sidewalks around the country have been grafitti’d with pro Trump slogans. Any pics I have seen so far have been done in good taste. But all the delicate little (snow)flakes are offended and needing their safe spaces because they feel threatened by the message. The movement has been labeled The Chalkening. Anything and everything is being done to stop Trump. So, your punishment for being out of the loop is to chalk your town 10 times with TRUMP 2016. 🙂

Took a little internet break over the last few days. Spent most of the last few days outdoors as the weather was awesome. Even got in some target practice with relatives and my new toy. Had a ball.

After reading a few things early this morning, I should have just left the computer off another day, LOL. Today is NY’s primary. At this point I think that the cat is out of the bag and nothing is what most people thought. It will be interesting to watch how all of this unfolds this summer. I can’t help but think that we will see some significant riots if things continue on the same track. Even locally, people are fed up with the BS that we are fed from politicians and the MSM.

It’s becoming quite easy to see that politicians, especially those on the Left, seem to think they can control the people without due process. With the 2nd Amendment under constant attack, maybe it’s time for some different ideas, even at the local level. Still, why should we need laws like this one http://personalliberty.com/paul-moves-to-protect-vets-seniors-from-massive-government-gun-grab/ brought forward by Rand Paul? Does anyone think Obama will actually sign it if passed?

Good afternoon Sir. I have a twist for you on the Republican process. A bit conspiracy but possible.

Trump loses at the convention. But to avoid complete destruction of the party the “establishment” allows Cruz to win on the second or third ballot.

Then shortly after the convention several lawsuits are filed challenging Cruise’s eligibility to run for POTUS, claiming he is NOT a Natural Born Citizen. The Court finds in favor of the plaintiffs and Cruise is eliminated. These lawsuits will of course not be filed by the “establishment” but by Dems or someone appearing to be NOT a Republican.

So what “party” rules govern the replacement of the party’s candidate if he/she is incapacitated before the election??

Intersting theory,,,,,,interesting, indeed. But let us add to this conspiracy theory….HOw about a…..ahem……Cruz/Kasich marriage at the convention…this beats Clinton in the general election….then the suit is filed, Cruz has to resign leaving Kasich…..Then Rubio becomes VP….

Even more unbelievable than the proposal is the fact that this story is trying to pretend this is a NEW idea. That this ONE GUY has had some revelation from the God of Science and Economics.

The goal of the Green movement since the early 70’s has been to drive up the cost of things they do not want to happen. Timber, grazing, oil, gas, etc. etc. But leave it to a genius to just say lets tax it.

must have been a genetically modified species. Need a law against that. A phd from Berkeley and conservative…come on….add a new line to the endangered species list.

We have had a completely unpredictable winter here in NC. Not particularly bad, seen worse and seen more temperate dispite the climate change advocates. April has been miserable and cold until today. Nice warm and not windy. Wildlife loving it. The one thing that strikes me is that there are some species that can not move and die out due to a change in their environment changing for one reason or another. Most just move further west east, north or south as needed. They survive. Somehow the human race has claimed that nothing can change ever for what ever reason and dubious causes, stop time and select some time as perfect and must be preserve at all costs Just get on with it and move like most species of the animal kingdom…..what climate change killed off species that survived and evolved for 100’s of millions of years a far sight longer than the measly 1 million years humoids have been around and dominant for just a few thousand years….i though humans were tough adaptable and resiltiant…I guess not

Why are the same people that claim humans are the root of all evil on the world and nature…1) not being the 1st ones to eliminate themselves from the equation. 2) why are they also so hell fired worked up on stopping any pandemic disease that used to keep the population in check periodically. 3) why are they the same people that we have to spend other peoples money to keep someone alive regardless, no matter ahat the prognosis.. either young or old. 4) why are they the ones investing so much to prolong life beyond the normal God give span of your life….but yet humans are the worst thing injected on earth,

I would put $ 20 up to bet that if you could come up with an actor/preacher who would have spellbinding delivery who could actually convince a large portion of out very flexible young to engage in mass suicide for the planet.

In life, there are a number of very good reasons not to have children but back when I was in my 20’s and 30’s listening to friends and acquaintances who said they were not going to reproduce because they wanted to “save” the planet I was amazed. If the “best and brightest” did not think they could reproduce and sire a child who would become a “solution” to the problem rather than be the problem they just did not get the reason to exist. The additional fact that the dumbest among us have no problem breeding like rabbits never seemed to cross their minds.

I remember a good friend from the old days, Don Siegel, a conservative Jew and fellow NYC worker who had four children. People in his Temple were shocked and amazed that he did not stop at two. His answer, “Somebody has to be able to administer the welfare programs of the future”.

Doesn’t the pension crisis in the EU come to mind loud and clear on that one. Negative birth rate and there is nobody coming up the pipe to pay for the pyramid scheme. Except all the muslims they’re importing.

Hillary loses ten points of her lead but wins by 15%. Clinton’s support was limited to about four areas, Sanders won the vast majority of districts and counties.

Trump skunked Cruz by winning all the districts and the state, by a major 60%.

BUT……… Trumps more massive win, geographically speaking is peanuts compared to Clinton’s vote total from a much smaller area.

ALL Republican votes, that is all three candidates total, do not exceed the votes Clinton got from her small geographic wind.

Trump’s claim of putting New York in play for the R’s is EMPTY as far as I can see.

Now as for the Dems. How could Bernie be pulling those crowds and have polls showing him within 5 points or so and get beat by 15%?? Well one reason is NY’s restriction on who gets to vote. Wonder when we will hear about the Clinton/DNC disenfranchisement of the young vote in NY???

Next question, why isn’t the media climbing all over Clinton about her “Superdelegates”?? When you subtract them she is tied with Sanders. That’s right, a tie up until yesterday. Where is all the outrage?

News Flash for the talking heads tomorrow. Cruz lost and will lose some more in those NE States where no Republican can win in November. So exactly what does that tell you about his chances in a National race? NOTHING.

Trump will win those same States with total votes less than Clinton. What does that tell us about his ability to beat Clinton? NOTHING.

In fact, of all the states coming up only Pennsylvania could be considered as a potential Republican win, with the right candidate. I doubt that either Cruz or Trump is that candidate. But time will tell.

So we are still stuck on the electoral map of 2012 as the key to answering these questions.

I agree with your comments about the general election, far too early to tell who can win. I’m going to venture and say that the 2016 Convention rules will be released later rather than sooner. They may even wait until the night before the Convention to keep things under wraps. Watch rule 40b to be gone, allowing any candidate to enter. I wouldn’t want to be in Cleveland during the Convention, lots of violence expected.

Interesting factoid……..Trump is beginning to raise eyebrows in the democratic party. They are beginning to worry that the Trump phenomena of one person one vote is catching on. The rigging of super delegates in the democratic party and the rigging of the delegates in the Republican partry along with the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters in New York because there is no such thing as a registered independent or a non registered PARTY voter…..

They yell about Texas because we want a picture ID…..but in Texas you can vote for whomever you want…..in New York you cannot vote, even as an American citizen…UNLESS you are a registered democrat or a registered Republican…..who is the true disenfranchised?

It has always been that way in NY and NJ. A party preference poll. There was that thing Limbaugh did eight years ago where he encouraged (tongue in cheek) Republicans who had no real race to cross over and vote for Hillary. I have no problem with Party preference polls. having to change registration, six months in advance? That, maybe I do have a problem with. Perhaps too far out maybe three months.

NY is a very BLUE state. Do not judge too much by the Republican primary numbers. There are a whole bunch of blue collar democrats out there, mostly under or unemployed. It has happened before. Hillary had a great ground game and, pun intended, she managed to keep her voters on the plantation.

I can see a lot of mischief in cross party voting. Organize all your drinking buddies to cross over and vote for the person easiest to beat.

On the other hand perhaps they should shorten the requirement for a switch. Six months ago, Bernie was not seriously a threat (nor was Trump) Three months ago it was pretty clear they were in for the duration. So maybe they should shorten it to three months.

Now, I will be honest. Eight years ago, I would have crossed over and voted Hillary instead of Barack. I knew she could be beaten by McCain and I knew he couldn’t.

Try using “Webroot” as your security software. Not only is it far less expensive than either Norton or Macafee, but they continue supporting and protecting software that has been declared obsolete and ceased being supported by Norton and Macafee.

Been listening to the drival on the news today about the, I believe Iraqi, who in a conversation on the plane mentioned “martyr” in arabic. An arabic speaker turned him in and he was removed from the plane. Bif dust-up, demanding apologise (sp) etal the emabarassment. Damn it I’m sick of this. The last time I was in Milan…..absolutely the State profiled. Professionally with no embarrassment and several people never boarded. ALL from the M/E. In the UK, if you even breathed a word about the IRA even in jest, you’d be severily inconvienienced….NO JOKE.

Interesting and somewhat odd times we have going on. The Saudi 911 connection and a LOT of what was once conspiracy theory coming out as conspiracy fact (including flying Saudi’s out of the country when planes were grounded on 911). And, we have a new documentary that is out called VAXXED! It exposes the CDC conspiracy to cover up the link between Autism and the MMR vaccine, as put forth by… a head scientist who led the CDC for decades. From the person who did the film, the CDC knew for over a decade that the two were associated. While many of us knew of the link, what is really coming out isn’t really about vaccines or the Saudi’s, but about our completely corrupt government and their involvement in both 911 and the Autism epidemic.

The other day I borrowed a book from the library called “The Devil’s Alternative” by Frederick Forsyth. Low and behold it digs in the Ukraine issue big time and it was written 36 years ago. Deja vu. East of the Dnieper is generally Russian, but west is very much tied to western Europe culturally. Pretty much after WWII Stalin tried crushing the life out of that region, just like he did with the Baltic States. Moving or killing the natives and replacing them with Russians…Russification. Even though this is a work of fiction Forsyth’s books always have real events backing up the story. So today’s events in that region of the Baltic and Ukraine are just a continuing chapter of political events formed centuries ago…..can’t wait to really sit down and read it without stopping. The weather has been phenomenal and spending time outside working on projects.

Can’t wait to here the cynics complain the Republicans never keep their promises and are nothing but corrupt SOB’s.

The Senate failed today to use appropriations to stop Mr. Obama’s “water rule” by the EPA, under the Clean Water Act. The RULE that assumes authority over waters not included in grants of power by Congress. The RULE that is currently being held up by the courts, pending a final ruling by the court.

You see 56 Republican Senators voted to pull all funding needed to implement this “rule”. But because the Dems filibustered it died. Not a single Democrat was willing to vote with the R’s. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Including those from western states where this is aimed to go after ranchers and private timber lands.

So I guess this will just go down as another Republican phony promise…. right?

P.S. In case you forgot, it takes 60 Senators to override the filibuster. So if there are not 60 Republican Senators just what is it people expect them to get done when the D’s are standing in the way?

Maybe they should have fixed the issue of unelected bureaucrats doing shit like this long ago, instead of just passing the buck. All your seeing is theater, they have all chosen to allow this kind of stuff to happen. This is what happens when the Congress gives away their Constitutional authority. The whole lot of them are corrupt, ALL of them.

Let me also add that the “water rule”, regardless of who tries to implement it, is not within the authority of the Congress, to give away to begin with, as they never had it. The EPA, much like the BLM and USFWS are all corrupt bastards who should be jailed under the RICO laws. None of them are permitted this authority under the enumerated powers. Let’s make them ALL GO AWAY!

Does the story of Lot and his wife come to mind….solution….just remove all gender signs on the facilities and not just the single one person at a time heads like in a bar…..I mean the multiple ones….see how fast the “PEOPLE” rebel. Screw the courts. These rulings are just perverted…..In all places. pre school, elementary school, middle school, high school….this devient behavior can not last as a normal thing….I’ll bet the judges do not share bathrooms.

Surveillance video shows more than a dozen people doing nothing to help a Chicago bartender after he is attacked, left unconscious on the street and accidentally run over by a taxi, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

What can you say…..easy pickin’s….this is so disheartening…..the other evening I was dining out at my favorite restaurant. Gorgeous night so I ate outdoors. Throught the evening there were people walking by that were armed. Some open carry and most concealed. I recognized one of the people as a county sheriff. I asked what’s up?. He said that there was a gathering with several older folks that protection was offered against any assults while walking back to their cars. That the crime downtown is very under reported so as not to disturb the tourists. I’ve never seen any but then I’m not a person who looks vulnerable. nor are the people I hang out with, all military and not to be messed with armed or not.. As the meeting broke up several people stopped by my table and asked what I had and then started talking. They were all older. One had his Smith and Wesson out. Another discreetly under his shirt….I asked his wife if she was carrying….In her purse?…..nope, clipped to her belt under her pullover shirt. Here was a lady at least 70.

In the 60’s we all generally were politically aware of what was happening. But today, we are a dying breed. Try getting a person of our corresponding age in the 60’s to have any idea politically the consequences of what’s being dictated by the administration and the black robed wizards…it is a rare person.

Attitude……personal attitude….displayed attitude and confidence is better than all the guns you can carry. If you look like a victim, you will become a victim.. Walk tall, shoulders back, look people in the eye…..make them think you are carrying a bazooka. ( Sorry….. for the youngsters, a bazooka is a light, shoulder fired, WWII vintage anti armor weapon your version would be the Dragon or Javelin or LAWS.) At any rate, walk like you have one. Profile everyone you see and evaluate. You do that everytime you go to the store or when you meet someone new anyway….you form opinions almost every single day. Expect the unexpected….it does not matter your age. Older folks need to understand that they become prey because of their age and their inability to move quick or defend themselves as they used to….recognize this.

I would not try to attack anyone down here….we simply do not know who is carrying weapons. Grandma’s carry here as well…..we now have concealed carry in our college classrooms, public teachers are armed, we now have open carry although I do not see it anywhere, school bus drivers are armed, fire fighters are armed, ( The only place I see open carry today is on joggers and bicycle riders )…go to the lakes to water ski and have fun and you will also see boaters carrying weapons in their boats and you will see picnic goers with their weapons…..

Want to know what the end result has been?….homeless wanderers, panhandlers, beggars, and con artists do not approach you in the parks and picnic areas any longer. Home attacks and thefts have dropped by over 50%. Cities have started cleaning our their “tent cities” that harbor underneath the over passes or beneath the streets. Dallas just recently cleaned up their large tent city and moved everyone out. Tents and cardboard villages are no longer tolerated. They have been told to go elsewhere and to get out…..in two weeks, the Dallas police reported a significant drop of street crime directly associated with the tent city.

Fort Worth eliminated tent cities and homeless enclaves three years ago and it is so nice to drive up to a red light now and see no “will work for food signs” or have pan handlers approach your car begging for money….or the fakers that hold up the “homeless veterans” signs….( Try an experiement and ask a person who holds a homeless veteran sign what unit he was with and where he was…you would be surprised at the answers….offer a “will work for food” person a job and see what happens). People will not work until “we” the people do not fall for the con game. Texas, along with other states, have organized veterans programs to get veterans off the streets…but you better be a veteran or you will be called out. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana have a network of veterans groups that coordinate with each other now….and send names to each other of the fake vets. The end result is beginning to show up as everyone of these states now are reporting that the vets have disappeared off the streets and are in the shelters established by vets and run by vets and, are you ready for this, PRIVATELY….yes…..PRIVATELY FUNDED. Oklahoma and Texas business men have established brand new food stores ( Tulsa and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma and in Fort Worth, Houston, and Bryan, Texas where 100 % of the employees are veterans…..proven veterans. The BFOQ standard to be hired is to be a veteran. If a vet shows up to be hired and cannot pass a drug test, he is sent to a veteran run rehab program fully funded by Private organizations. Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have also organized two employement agencies that are doing veteran only placement programs and are so successful, they are running out of non employed veterans, Employers love it because they are getting pre-screened applicants that are already trained in discipline and organization. Unemployed veteran’s are disappearing.

Well, enough of that….it works but it is going to take a non-reliance attitude on the government. And it takes dedication and hard work.

The side of the street that I used to live on and the 9 square blocks associated with it, has not had any robbery of B&E for over 13 years. Nice houses. The houses on the other side backed up to the RR tracks and the neighborhood that is black. The perps would enter through the back……That said most of the residents in our blocks were veterans or still active. Usually we had a flag along with the US flag of our service. I was an odd ball, being Navy. Most were Marines. Bottom line it was a bad bet to rob or enter the houses unless you were invited. Just the threat of not surviving the encounter kept the neighborhood safe.

Tonight I was out a a local club. A couple times a week they have scheduled live bands. But most other nights…open mike. Tonight a guy was playing accoustical guitar….seriously good. great adaptations of songs from the 60’s, jazz, folk, Led Zeppelin, Clapton. White haired, beard…definitely a contemporary of many of us. On his breaks, we’d talk about music. Somehow a comment about Springteen came up for canceling his concert in Greensboro because he doesn’t like the NC politics…….The guy said….you listen to his music and there’s a mesage with it, like we said here….isn’t the point to convince those that DO NOT see it your way to change their views. he said Springteen is being real stupid is totally missing the point. What’s the value of protesting to the very people that agree with you. Nothing is gained.

This is a big joke here….and it has not hurt Whole Foods at all. What surprises me is places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and these “specialty” food stores are actually in business. They buy their produce inexactly the same places as everyone else…..but it is hip to pull up to Trader Joe’s in your “Beemer” and pay 30% more for the same tomatos that you can buy down the street and buy a bag of some cashew that comes from the country of Who Goosed the Moose at $12 per pound.

But Austin, Texas, is our liberal experiement and we leave them alone. It is a wart on our ass and irritating but we laugh at what comes out of Austin. It is also fun to visit and look at the San Francisco style Bistros and things….and they survive there but no where else. It is fun to see the California yuppies trying to pass themselves off as Texans in their Guccie pointy toed boots…and their designer jeans…and where the real Texans that are there have figured out that these yuppie types will pay almost anything for…..well…..anything. Take a 50 cent tamale and wrap it in flowered paper….you can change three bucks for it in Austin..Do the same thing in any other town in Texas and you will have a 50 cent tamale left at the end of the day…wrapped in flowered paper.

As to this cake….it did not happen. It is a fake and everyone knows it.

Good morning my Texican friend. Hope all is well with you these days. OK, here it goes:

Three hicks, that is country boys for those living in Terra Linda, decided to go to college together. So it happens all three are taking a Physics class together.

The professor asks the class to identify what they think the fastest thing is in nature. Well the first feller throws up his hand. The professor calls on him and again asks what he thinks is the fastest thing. Well, that would be a light switch of course, replies the hick. How so asks the proff? Well you flip the switch and almost instantly the lights come on.

The professor confesses this is a different answer than he is used to but sees the potential in exploring this. “Anyone else?”, he asks. The second hick puts up his hand. No Sir, he says it is the blink of an eye. “What?” exclaims the proff. Yes Sir, you blink your eye and it is so fast you don’t even see it. Another interesting idea states the proff. Interesting, and I can see how that might be.

Not to be undone the third hick waves his hand vigorously. “You Sir, what do you think is the fastest?” That is easy professor. “It is diarrhea!” announces the young man.

The proff. explains that he could see some logic in the other two but does not understand how diarrhea is the fastest thing in the universe.

Simple as can be said the young man. The other day I could feel the diarrhea coming on. And before I could hit the light switch or blink my eyes I had crapped my pants.

Ohhh……you had to look a long way for that one…..Not to be out done, however….

A Rangers Fan, a Yankees Fan, and a Red Sox fan are cimbing a mountain and arguing about who loves his team more. The Red Sox fan insists he is the most loyal. “This is for the SOX” he proclaimed and jumped off the mountain. Not to be out done, the Rangers fan is next to profess his love for his team…” This is for Texas !” he yells and pushes the Yankees fan off the mountain.

OK, here is one that popped in my head. A leftist Democrat attends a rally screaming against the evils of capitalism. Feeling filled with righteousness and excitement the leftist doesn’t pay attention when leaving the rally. He is hit and killed by a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream truck while crossing the street against the red light.

You have done one or more of the following with hot wire:
– Peed on it to verify the myth
– Grabbed hold of it
– Clothes lined yourself
– (For those of you who don’t know what a hot wire is…hot wire = electric fence…and you’re lucky if it’s a pulse model and not constant current)

Stay off the road – there are no speed limits. It’s a common misconception that everything is twice as big in Texas, really, everything is 1.965 times bigger, but we round up.

It’s a common misconception that we have killer bees, fire ants, gigantic roaches and mosquitoes and other awful insects, tornadoes, hurricanes, and damaging hailstorms. We tend to think of them as a few bitty bugs and a bad hair day.
you are 100% Texan if you have ever heard this conversation:

“You wanna coke?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind?”
“Dr. Pepper.”

Want more?

You measure distance in minutes.
You can say “110 degrees” without fainting.
You say “Yes, ma’am” and “Yes, sir” to your own parents.
Directions include “down yonder”.
You can make a U-turn ANYWHERE you want… regardless of what the signs say.
You know that roadrunners don’t say Beep Beep.
You know the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water comes out of both taps.
You realize asphalt has a liquid state.

AND THEN. a little school rivalry humor:

So theres a Sooner, a Longhorn, and an Aggie at the hospital, all awaiting their first born sons.

The Aggie walks into a room to see his baby, and after 10 minutes returns and says “I couldn’t find my baby Aggie boy, they all look alike”.

Next, the Sooner walks into the room, and after 10 minutes returns and says “I couldn’t find my baby Sooner boy, they all look alike”.

So the Longhorn gets up, walks out of the room and 30 seconds later he is
back with a baby Longhorn, baby Sooner, and baby Aggie.

The Aggie and Sooner ask, “how did you do it?!”

The Longhorn said, “I went in and yelled HOOK EM HOOORNS!!!! and my baby jumped up, slam dunked his bottle, and shot the hook ’em sign high. The Aggie shit on itself and the Sooner played in it”.

There were 3 NATO commanders walking through the quad in front of HQ. One was from Germany, one from Great Britain and one from the US. They were all bragging about how brave their troops were. Finally the German genearl called over the 1st wehrmacht soldier he saw. Ordered him to climb the clag pole and jump uff…splat. Now that’s bravery. doing it anyway knowing you’ll die. The Britch general said hah watch this. Sent one of his troops up the pole. Once at the top the soldier saluted, jumped and sang “God saves the Queen” on the way down…splat. Staying so calm and clear of mind in spite of certain death has got to be the bravest. The American genearl had had enough of this and called over the 1st US soldier he saw. Gave him the same order. The soldier snapped to attention, and respectfully said “Sir…F!!!Y!!,,,Sir” The general turned to the others and said…”Now that is bravery”

The Author could have taken it further. I think that the 10th Amendment is moot these days. Actually, I can probably show how most of the constitution is currently moot. The “crisis and emergency” stuff was spot on. What’s funny….both sides do the same thing. It will only get worse, as for now, we seem to have a dictatorship with a revolving door. The new dictator will be the same as the old dictator. Until one, because of some crisis or emergency, decides to cancel elections and take over. This was a big issue in 2012, now it’s a bigger issue with the two Party’s showing how it’s all an illusion of choice. The “crisis” don’t even have to be something like a nuke strike on a few cities, just a major, lengthy power outage in the NorthEast due to a terrorist attack would be cause for the election to be cancelled. While people are preoccupied with what bathroom a queer in a dress uses and how the RNC is going to screw Trump, nobody is paying much attention to the REAL problems. But that’s what they want, it gives them (political elite) control. Slavery isn’t dead, it’s just changed it’s clothes. You and I are slaves. Nice thought, isn’t it.

Instead, Manafort said Trump wants to coordinate his campaign with the “establishment” GOP.

“He gave us the mandate to bring together a team of professionals that could finish the job for him, but could also then begin to link in with the establishment institutions that are part of our party, what you represent, what the state parties represent,” Manafort said. “We’ve started all those conversations…. He cares about the united team.”

He would be a fool not to try to bring them into his camp. The question you raise is he going to be their tool?

The most interesting thing Doris Kearns Goodwin ever did was to write her Lincoln book. Prior to that I and I am sure thousands of others had no idea that his cabinet consisted of those who challenged him for the nomination.

How ironic……Our POTUS today, sticking his nose where it does not belong in UK/ECM business actually makes the statement that Europe and Britains open immigration policy is a threat to our National Security. I actually had to back up the dvr to listen again…..unbelieveable. He says their policy is a threat to the US but our own policy on the Mexico border is not a threat…..you cannot make this stuff up.

He absolutely is delusional. Besides he just reads the words written on the cards or teleprompter….doesn’t comprehend the hypocracy. He is worse than a NEWSREADER, he’s supposed to be our POTUS and the leader of the free world. Heaven forbid if Hillary is elected. She has less capability to speak truthfully than Obama.